Man calling himself 'a joker' threatened shooting

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Maryland man calling himself "a joker" is accused of threatening to shoot up the business from which he was about to be fired and was wearing a T-shirt that read "Guns don't kill people. I do," when he first talked to officers who arrested him, police said Friday.

An official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that Neil Prescott phoned in the threat to software and mailroom supplier Pitney Bowes near Washington, D.C. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is unfolding, and police would not confirm the suspect's name.

"I am a joker and I'm gonna load my guns and blow everybody up," he is accused of saying on the phone to Pitney Bowes, Prince George's County Police Chief Mark Magaw said at a news conference.

Investigators said a search of the 28-year-old man's apartment in Crofton, Md., turned up some 25 firearms, including semi-automatic rifles and pistols, and several thousand rounds of ammunition. Police said they were surprised by the number of weapons they found.

He was undergoing an emergency mental health evaluation and charges are pending, police said.

Investigators say he called in the threat earlier this week. Pitney Bowes spokeswoman Carol Wallace said in an emailed statement that Prescott was an employee of a subcontractor to the company and had not been on any Pitney Bowes property in more than four months.

Though the suspect referred to himself as "a joker" when he called in the threat, the official said there is no other known connection to a deadly shooting last week at a Colorado movie theater during the latest Batman movie.

At a news conference Friday, officials said the man made several threats on separate phone calls.

"If you call your business, if you call a loved one, if you call anybody and you threaten to do harm, kill people, we're going to believe you, and we did," said Prince George's County Police Deputy Chief Hank Stawinski.

Police say they considered the threat especially significant since a gunman in Colorado killed 12 people during the latest Batman movie.

Magaw said he did not know if the suspect had any history of mental illness.